The Assassins
by Spencer JD
Summary: What would you do if you were being chased by deadly assassins? Run? Fight? Will tried to do both, and look where that got him. A few years after the incident, Will finds out that they want to end the Rangers, and he's the only one who can stop them.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer Thingy: Well, I don't own Ranger's Apprentice (sadly). It belongs to the wonderful Mr. John Flanagan. The assassins and plot, I do own though.  
**

**Warnings: Swearing and violence.  
**

**Now **_**HERE'S MY STORY . . .**_

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Will glanced back. Sure the streets are crowed but with what he's wearing, well that should be a problem, Will thought. Then he saw him-close, a little too close for Will's liking. So, as anyone else would do if they were being chased by an assassin, Will turned onto another street. And happened to trip over a cart-and spill all of its contents.

"Hey! You better help me pick this entire mess up!" Will looked down to see Mr. Evans, a very cranky man.

"Sorry!" Will muttered, slowing to a walk. "But I'm kinda in a rush!"

Mr. Evans eyes narrowed. "Spoiled kid." He muttered, than he noticed the cloths that Will was wearing. The Ranger uniform. Mr. Evans's eyes got as big as plates and he gulped. Will rolled his eyes, and turned down an alley-immediately breaking out into a sprint. Will heard the yell of frustration from the assassin. The young Ranger started chuckling and then skidded to a halt as he realized that there was two assassins. One behind him, closeing in the gap, and the second one was standing right in front of Will.

"Great," Will grumbled, "Where's Halt when I need him?" Will set a hand on the hilt of his throwing knife, preparing the throw.

_**Okay, I throw my knife at assassin 2 in front, because he's the one who has the millions of knives all over his person and he can probably throw them. Then when assassin 2 is done for, I deal with assassin 1 with my saxe any way I wish! Now, Halt said he'd meet me-**_

"AAARRRGGG!" Assassin 2 charged. Will yelped and slipped the knife out of its sheath, and chose that throwing underhand would be the fastest. The shining, spinning knife slammed into Assassin 2's gut. Assassin 2 stood, bewildered for a moment, then crumpled to the ground. Right after that, Will's saxe suddenly appeared in his hands. Will spun around, holding up the saxe, ready for the slam of sword on saxe, but it never came.

Will had guessed that Assassin 1 would try and break his neck by slamming the flat of his sword on Will's head. But Will had guessed wrong. The Ranger felt the sword ram into his side, burning pain. All Will could see was red and black as he fell to the ground clutching his side. Will could faintly hear a yell of horror, and through the red and blackness, Will watched Assassin 1 fall to the ground with a black arrow deep in his chest. Than everything went black.

Halt had found him. But he was to late.

Halt bent down next to Will. His shirt was bloody, ripped and dirty. Halt's eyes were wide with horror and panic.

"Do you need any help, Halt?"

"Yes! Malcolm, do you not see Will?" Halt snapped at the small healer behind him. Malcolm rolled his eyes.

"Halt, yes I do see Will. Now move or he will die." Malcolm muttered. Halt looked at him and moved to the side. Halt watched anxiously as Malcolm stopped the bleeding, and cleaned the wound out.

Both Halt and Malcolm's eyes widened and the sight of the wound. It was deep and quiet long and it was nearly impossible for Will to live

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

Will slowly opened his eyes. Everything was red. Voices, right above him. Will looked up to see someone standing over him. The man was shorter then the average person. He was wearing a cloak with the cowl down. His face was blurry to Will but the features Will could see, left him wondering. He had a salt and pepper beard and that was all Will could make out. Why does this man seem so familiar?

How is he standing above me, Will thought. Am I on the ground? Will looked down his side and confirmed his suspicions. But why am I laying on the ground? And why can't I feel anything past my stomach? Will looked closer and noticed something red, deep red on the cobblestones he was laying on. Also someone was kneeling next to him. The only thing Will could make out about this person was that he was small.

Will turned his head to the right and saw a small figure laying on the ground with something thin, and black sticking out of his chest. Now Will turned his head to the left. A larger figure was also on the ground, with something short, but thick in his stomach. Why are the people only helping me? What happened?

Suddenly, everything came back to Will.

Will bumped into a man, Will felt something fall into the satchel at his side, but thinking that it was just the man, he apologized and kept on walking. A few minutes later, Will heard running footsteps, so he turned around. The man he had bumped into was running. At him. Will spun around and ran for his life. He ran through the streets and finally came to an alley. With a bigger bulkier man. The man behind Will was wearing a black cloak, and looked very mysterious. The man in front of Will, was not wearing a cloak. Well if he wore a cloak, he would probably rip it. Assassin 2 charged, Will threw his knife, and then went to defend himself from the other one.

Now Will knew what had happened. The man above him was Halt. The small one next to Will was Malcolm. The two assassins were dead.

Will closed his eyes.

* * *

**Surprisingly, when I wrote this i didn't have any Mtn Dew . . . that is SO odd. Okay, Prologue = FINISHED! Hahahahahahahahaha!  
**

**-Spencer  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer Thingy: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice (Sadly). It belongs to the wonderful Mr. John Flanagan, blah blah blah and all that crap. BUT I do own the assassins and the plot.**

**Warning: Swearing and Violence, and all that _fun _stuff.  
**

**Ha! I have** **finally found out how to post the next chapter!**

* * *

_**Two Years Later**_

Will opened his eyes and groaned. He didn't want to get up. After what happened yesterday with his arm nearly being sliced open, he was soar. And in pain.  
Than he realized that it wasn't morning yet. It was around four. Will sat up, taking the precaution of not using his right arm. And looked at the still figure lying next to him: Alyss. He smiled and got up out of bed quietly. He draped his belt with his sheaths for his throwing and saxe knives on it over his shoulder and slipped out the door.

He tip toed past Aaron's room, and into the kitchen. And found someone already there. Will's hand went to the saxe that was hanging over his shoulder.

"Hullo, Will. Nice to see you awake and not complaining about your arm." chuckled a gruff voice. Will narrowed his eyes and let his hand drop back to his side.

"What are you doing here, Halt? And at four in the morning? Really!" Will complained as he walked over to the table with the coffee pot. Of course the coffee was already made, Halt was here, so Will poured himself a cup and went over to sit next to his friend at the table.

"So, how's Aaron doing?" Halt asked while taking a sip of the coffee. Will glanced down the hall, towards Aaron's room.

Will frowned, "For a first year almost a second, I'm not happy. He can barley tell which end of the arrow which. When he shoots, somehow he ends up hitting something almost fifty meters away. He's nearly killed himself with the knives. And, I don't trust him with the strikers," Will sighed, "Also I have no idea how he even became my apprentice!"

Halt winced and took another sip. How _did _Will get Aaron as an apprentice? Halt thought.

"It must be the red hair." Halt tried unsuccessfully to cheer Will up.

Will glared at the gray bearded Ranger. "First of all, Crowley and Duncan had red hair and they turned out fine. Second, what are you even doing here?" He grumbled.

Halt shrugged and looked sadly into his empty cup of coffee. He set it on the table. "Couldn't sleep. So I came over here, figuring that you couldn't sleep either." Halt sat back in his chair and looked into Will's uncertain eyes.

"Why would you think I couldn't sleep." Will asked warily.

"Think back two years ago, to this day." Halt suggested. And that's what Will did.

Two years ago, to this day . . . Will didn't remember anything. In fact, he only remembered blackness. And redness. Will frowned. What had happened that day to make him only remember two colors? Then, he remembered something other than a color, pain. And after that, he remembered everything. He had bumped into someone. That someone had nearly killed him. If Will hadn't been heading for Halt and Malcolm, and that they were maybe a block away, he would probably be in the ground right now.

Now Will remembered, he and Halt had been sent to Norgate because no one could find the fief's Ranger. Malcolm happened to be in Norgate at the time and they ran into each other. After a few days, they found the body of the missing Ranger. They reported it. Before they left, Malcolm asked Will do to him a favor. When Will was done, he was walking back to his friends when he bumped into the man. And you all know how the story goes from there.

Will sighed, and Halt smiled sadly at him.

"Come on, Will," Halt murmured, "Might as well get a start on something. Go get dressed and meet me on the porch." At that, Halt got up and walked out the door.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

Will walked out on the porch, swinging his cloak over his shoulders. The young Ranger glanced at Halt, who had gotten Tug out, and saddled. Well, at least I don't have to do this with Aaron breathing down my neck, he thought.

I think that it's around five, considering that it took awhile for me to remember what happened today, two years ago. So Halt and I, Will said to himself inside his head, have about a hour before Alyss and Aaron wake up.

As the two Ranger's made their way through the forest, something moved. Halt's eyes snapped over to the spot. Something moved again.

"Will, keep going." Halt suggested. Will bit his lip, but then noticing the look in Halt's eyes, nodded.

As Will road on, he heard voices. He unslung his bow and set it on Tug's saddle. After that he reached for an arrow to set on the bow string. He continued on, but more cautious. After a few more minutes, he stopped Tug and demounted the small horse. Will pulled the large long bow to half-draw and stood still. The voices were louder. Will glanced back the way he came, the direction he had left his companion, then he looked at Tug and said:

"Stay."

Will slipped through the shadows, and after a few minutes of mysterious people talking about things Will couldn't hear, he ducked behind a tree when he sensed that he was at the edge of a clearing. Lots of people were there, and they were all dressed in black. The smaller people were wearing black cloaks with all their black clothing. The larger people were just wearing black. Black leggings, Black jerkin, Black undershirt, and all that stuff.

They were all talking, of course.

"All right, quiet all you big bafoons." someone yelled from the far side of the clearing, "Tonight, we will split up. Myself and . . . Leon, will go and get rid of that Ranger and get that journal back once and for all. I will take care of him, Leon. You will do your business with his grandpa. The rest of you will spread out and try to eliminate the other Rangers. Ben, you take care of that old Commandant. All right! Mason, you will be in charge until Leon and I catch up with you. You can tell the others which Ranger they can play with. And may I remind you that you do not need to go to Norgate. Our first mission went according to plan, until Mr. Treaty jumped in." The man smiled, his eyes moved from the crowd that's laughing their head off, to connecting gazes with Will.

Will gulped, and from behind the tree he didn't feel as safe as before when the man who had been speaking looked around the faces. He took a step back, but kept his eyes firmly on the blond haired, green eyed bastard who had probably sent the men who had nearly killed him two years ago.

Will took another step back before turning around and breaking out into a sprint.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

Halt road up the small path that Will had followed not 10 minutes earlier. And stopped when he saw a small horse with no rider in the middle of the path.

"Oh, come on!" Halt practically yelled. He was pissed. He had to deal with that old man again . . . ah, what's his name, Halt thought. Oh yeah, Salt Peter. That idiot, he still doesn't believe that I'm Halt! Halt yelled inside his head. He actually almost shot the old man because he was so annoying. But not as annoying as sending your former apprentice ahead up the path, and when you finally catch up to him, well you only find his horse! And of course the horse is looking at you, as if pleading for another apple!

"What?" came an answering yell from behind him. Halt spun around to see Will walking out of the shadows, holding his bow with an arrow notched. Halt sighed.

"Where were you?" He exclaimed.

Will pushed back his cowl, and bit his lip. "Ah . . . Having some fun?" Halt raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Interesting way." he glanced at the man-sized long bow at half draw.

Will chuckled, then got serious-fast. "I should probably tell you that some random people are after us. They want to destroy the Ranger Corps. And I think that they are the same people that nearly killed me." he grinned at the chance to do something that he cannot allow Aaron to work in.

"Well, we should probably tell Arald. And Duncan. Also Crowley." Halt started to turn Abelard around, but of course, was stopped.

Someone came up behind Will. Surprisingly.

"Well, look who interrupted our conversation, Leon." the blond haired devil grinned.

* * *

**HA! The next chapter is up! yay! yay! yay! yay! yay! And I typed ALL of this without MTN DEW! Score!****  
**

**So, do you like it? Cuz I think it turned out great! Okay, Will and Alyss are already married and so are Horace and Cassandra, so this takes place after the LOST STORIES.  
**

**Aaron is Will's apprentice, as you could probably tell not a very good one at that. I wonder how Aaron became Will's apprentice . . . that's something i'll wonder forever . . . well not really. You'll find out next chapter.  
**

**Okay, I had a different ending to this before, but a reviewer (Thank you, you know who you are.) pointed out that they are over reacting a little. I thought that through and realized that they are right. So I did some modifications, hope you like the NEW ending!  
**

**-Spencer  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: You know what, I'm just going to say from now on, WMIM. That means 'What's Mine Is Mine.' Everything else, well that belongs to Mr. John Flanagan.**

**Warnings: Swearing and violence, although not much has happened so far. . .**

**Oh, and sorry! I took so long because,  
**

**1. I had camp for a week.  
**

**2. I went on a trip to the middle of nowhere for a week right after camp.  
**

**3. Well, my brother has the habit of hogging the computer.  
**

* * *

Will grinned and turned around. "Well, hello there!" He laughed. "Nice to see you here! And technically, I didn't interrupt. I observed."

The man, who was still partially still in the shadow, smiled back at him.

"It seems as if our plans have moved from tonight to now, Leon."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

The small, black horse made its way through the thick forest with the rider leaning up against its neck, in confusion. Gilan did what he usually did, and of course, that _one _day that he's pissed off for some unknown reason, something happens.

Will shows up.

And of course, Will shows up bearing the news of the assassins, the ones who tried to kill him two years ago. Apparently, they're back.

Know, Gilan had let Will come back to his cabin to explain what was going on, over a cup of coffee. Of course.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

"Okay, so they're back. Right?" Gilan asked, handing Will a cup of the ever-present coffee and sitting down across from him.

Will nodded slowly. "Pretty much." he paused "You haven't had any trouble yet, have you?"

"Um . . . no. How are they back?"

"Technically, they're not back. They've probably been here the whole time. Just sneaking around, planing, right behind our backs. And some how, I have something to do with this." Will muttered.

"Well, that's just g-" Both Rangers froze as someone knocked, hard, on the door.

'Don't answer.' Will mouthed as he stood up, and slipped over to the door, soundlessly. Just as all Rangers were taught.

As Will peeked through the window to confirm who it was, Gilan watched as whoever was out there try the knob to see if it was unlocked. Luckily, Gilan had decided to lock the door this time. Because last time he had a conversation with Will here, someone ended up running in. And after they ran in, they chose to throw a badly aimed knife. That knife had flown past both confused Rangers, down the hall, and slammed into the door to Gilan's room.

"They're here." whispered Will.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

Outside, two assassins waited for someone to answer the door.

"This is going to be fun, Ray." One chuckled.

Ray, a smaller assassin wearing a cloak, took a deep breath and looked sideways at his companion who was a larger person, so no cloak. "Bryan, you know that these Rangers are tricky. Where one is, another one shows up when we make a move. I was there when your brother and Michael were killed."

Bryan turned, his features blazing with fury. "Treaty, he's gonna get it. I swear, when I get my hands on that bastard-"

"You're gonna do what? Kick my ass? Well you're going to have to do more than that to get rid of me!" Will chuckled from behind the two startled assassins as they spun around. Already drawing their choice weapons. For Ray, it was two saxe knives. And for Bryan, he drew out a large two handed sword.

The amused Ranger smiled and murmured, "First of all, that's a big sword. Second, well you should look behind you, Bryan, my friend." At that, a confused assassin turning around to see, well Gilan leaning up against the door frame, hands folded across his chest.

"Hello." He smiled.

Ray, all he did was turn and looked between Will and Gilan. Bryan was the one who over reacted. He yelled out in surprise, because he had never heard the door open, lifted his sword, and charged. After two steps, Gilan chose to throw.

The remaining assassin watched as Bryan fell onto the porch, probably staining it red with his blood. Ray stood there quietly, thinking many things through, like Bryan's stupidity was as big as his body and his smarts as small as the thinest, smallest blade of grass. As he was thinking, the Ranger at the door, the one he guessed to be Gilan, stepped forward and felt for a pulse on Bryan. No pulse, so Gilan grabbed his saxe and tugged it out of Bryan's chest.

"Well, Ray? Are you going to do anything? Because if you won't, we will gladly let you leave- _alive._" Will asked, spreading his arms out in question and taking a step forward.

"Ha, as much as I would like to leave this place alive, if I go back with the news that Bryan is dead, and I did nothing. Well there would be no point in returning." At that, he spun towards Gilan, and threw a saxe. It slammed into the wood, inches from the Ranger's head.

Will started, and took a swift step forward, grabbing his saxe. But of course Ray had a reaction.

He spun back around, swinging his saxe. Once his and Will's knives clashed, but after that Ray reached back and pulled out a dagger from knowhere and faster then either Will, Gilan, or any other Ranger could pull off. He slashed it across Will's face putting a small, but painful cut under his right eye.

After that, Ray turned back around again, finally deciding that he should take care the Ranger he had been sent to kill.

But Gilan-he had his hand on his sword, his eyes were filled with hatred. And know, he wasn't in a relaxed position any more-he was ready.

Ray wasn't stupid. He knew when to give in. He would deal with this smart ass Ranger later.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

"Eh, it's not that deep, that's for sure. But it does hurt like hell." Will grumbled to Gilan while looking at his reflection in his throwing knife.

"Well for one thing, I know that you're not going crazy," Gilan paused, "Hey, what happened to Halt? . . . He's not dead is he?"

Will frowned, shoved his knife back into its sheath, then glanced at his friend and laughed. "No, he's not dead. He's watching Redmont while I go for you."

"Isn't that what Aaron's for?"

"Ah . . . 'Aaron' isn't my apprentice any more. He kind of . . . "

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

**A day ago. The day when Aaron's secret is discovered.**

"Halt, I don't really know what happened-"

"I heard what you said about me this morning, Will." Aaron stood at the front of the hall staring as the two Rangers walked in, still kind of in a daze of what just happened. Will had killed the one called Leon. Halt had injured the other one who's name still escapes them.

"Hey! Aaron, what did you say?" for some reason Will could hear his wife, Alyss, yelling from their room.

"Hello? Aaron? Will? Why is the door locked? Hello?" She was screaming.

"Aaron, why is the door locked?" Halt started toward the door, he passed Aaron.

"You know perfectly well what I said, Will. Oh, and my name isn't 'Aaron'." 'Aaron' snapped.

"Okay then, what is it?"

"Ronin. It translates into 'A warrior that doesn't need a master'. So you got your assumptions wrong about me."

"First of all, Ronin, Your translations wrong. Its 'Warrior with no master'. Second, I think I hit my assumptions bullseye. Anything else before you leave?" Will snarled.

Ronin walked to the door and just as he was about to leave, Alyss and Halt walked into the room. They were silent.

"Yes, one more thing, Will. The man you killed today," Ronin turned in the door frame, his silhouette clear in the door. "He was my father."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

"Wait, so Aaron- I mean Ronin- was with the assassins the whole time?" Gilan asked.

Will nodded. "Leon, his father raised him with the assassins. Leon, somehow drugged me and the next thing I know, his son is my apprentice."

"So for a year-"

"The assassins have been watching me."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

Crowley sat over his desk with plenty of paperwork piled all over it. The Commandant paused as he heard something scratching something. It was coming from behind him. He turned around to see a hawk.

With a note.

The note was stained with something. Something red. Crowley cautiously grabbed the note from the hawk's beak.

He unfolded the blood stained note.

He dropped into his chair in horror.

Someone knocked.

"Hey, Crowley. You in there? We need to talk." Horace yelled from the other side of the door.

No reply.

"Crowley?"

Still no reply.

Horace tried the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked.

"Hey, Crowley, are you alright?" Horace asked rushing up to the stunned Ranger.

"Ah . . . yeah, I'm fine. What do you need?" Crowley murmured, still in a daze.

"Duncan got a letter about two days ago and ever since, well, he's been acting odd." Horace glanced at the blood-stained letter the was easily spotted.

"What did it say?" Crowley whispered, rubbing his eyes.

"Ah . . . It's a little weird but it says, 'I'm not going or coming because you must for me and for them.'"

"Oh, that's bad . . . "

"What?"

"Horace, it's a code. Start with the first word. Skip three words. Then take the word after that. So in the end the message that Duncan got two days ago says. I'm coming for them."

* * *

**Okay, yeah yeah I know that I took awhile and everything but don't blame me. There are some parts where I think I could do better. It's like midnight now so I'll do it some other time fixing it up.**

**So do you like what I ended up doing with 'Aaron'? Or should I say Ronin! Ronin is an actual Japanese name and it does actually translate to Warrior with no master but instead of Warrior, it's samurai.  
**

**Still no mtn dew . . . sadly. . .  
**

**-Spencer  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. WMIM. The rest belongs to Mr. John Flanagan.**

**Warnings: Swearing and Violence.  
**

**I'm SOOOOO excited! It's getting to the good parts! . . . hope you guys like/love this chapter!  
**

* * *

Lucien sat back in his chair. What was he supposed to do? After what Ray told him, his plans were falling apart. Will was there, AGAIN. If he somehow showed up at every planned ambush, there was no point in even trying!**  
**

"Sir? Would you like me to go back?" Lucien flinched at Ray's sudden question. He bit his lip. Should he let one of his most talented but least trusted assassins go, just to get one Ranger, that he may not even kill? Maybe he should try to get the Kingdom another way . . . but how?

"No. Do me a favor, and bring Ronin here." Lucien grinned, but as Ray turned away, he called again, "And after he's here, go to Castle Araluen. Do what I said _not_ to do."

The assassin chuckled "But you said-"

"And? I'll bet that that will put a dent in the country-and the Rangers."

"And do you really want that?"

"Just do it." Lucien snapped, pushing himself up from the chair.

"Fine, but I won't do it willingly." Ray turned towards the door of the small cabin that they had taken control of about a week ago.

"AND?"

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

"YOU WANT ME TO WATCH REDMONT, AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Gilan yelled.

"Yes. Halt and I need to go to Castle Araluen. See if they believe me without having to have an assassin there trying to kill someone." Will said, while standing up and putting his empty mug on the table.

"But,-" Gilan started.

"No. And that's final." Will pulled his cowl up and over his face and walked to the door.

The Whitby Ranger followed him out and muttered grumpily, "And who said you could tell me what to do?"

Will smiled and and walked down the porch steps toward Tug. "Halt, actually."

Gilan rolled his eyes, waved goodbye as his friend mounted Tug and road away.

"Suddenly, I go down on the favorite list."

(\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

**A Week Later . . . **

A shadow slipped into the knights room. Luckily, the brain-dead knight left the room unlocked. But his Lady was still there, so somehow he made it past the room she was in, closed the door, and locked it. The Lady unaware.

Ray knelt down at the window. To a regular person, the view would have been beautiful. A luscious green garden, with servant picking fresh vegetables for the cooks and flowers for the Ladys. But to an assassin, it was the perfect target. The assassin grabbed his crossbow, put a bolt down on the string, and pulling back hard, and got it to click.

He looked back out the window. This room had a perfect view of King Duncan's office and room, Sir Horace's and Princess Cassandra's room, and the Ranger Commandant's office and room, along with the garden. Even better, all the windows were open.

Sir Horace walking into the King's office, most likely reporting the dead sentry found a few hours before dawn. Duncan stood up from his desk and walked around to face Horace, his back to the window.

While that happened, Cassandra was sitting in her room, talking to her personal servant, ordering breakfast.

Crowley, in his office, was re-reading the letter he had gotten last week. A Ranger was talking to him.

This was his chance, Ray knew.

Sir Horace walked out, Duncan turned towards window, to look at the garden.

The servant walked out of Cassandra's room. The princess stood up and looked at the window at the garden.

The Ranger said goodbye, and walked out the door. Crowley sighed, stood up, and leaned against the windowsill looking at the garden.

Ray sighed, and put the crossbow down. "I can't shoot, and I won't." He stood up.

"Yes, you will shoot."

_In the end, the bolt was shot. And a person of great power, died that day._

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

"Will! Halt! Thank God you're here!" Horace exclaimed as one of the shaken servants brought the two Rangers to him.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "I can tell you needed us. Horace, what happened? It's going crazy out there!" the grizzled Ranger asked as Will watched curiously as servants, scribes, couriers, soldiers, and just random people ran back and forth in the hall.

Horace opened his mouth to reply, but froze. Glancing at Horace, when no reply came, Will noticed his eyes were red, and that he was shacking. Someone died, or is close to death.

"Horace . . . " Will murmured.

The knight took a deep breath, "I reported to Duncan that a sentry was found dead a few hours before dawn. After I left, I heard, well I don't know what I heard! I ran back in and-"

"Don't tell us-" Halt just, stopped. Will was frozen with horror. Horace nodded.

"But, the man was caught. He was in Nick's room. Nick happened to walk in just as he was leaving. Then Nick heard the yell, realized what happened, and grabbed him before he could do anything."

At that, Will stepped forward. "Can I speak to this man?"

Both Halt and Horace looked at him as he was crazy. "Ah, he doesn't speak Araluen, but okay. If you must." Horace turned, then stopped, and turned back around. "Halt, can you please find Cass? She ran into his office after I came in. After that, she ran off."

Halt nodded and joined the rush of random people.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

"Here he is, but as I said before, he doesn't speak Araluan."

"Do you know what he speaks." Will peeked into the prison room. There he was. The light brown hair, with some streaks of red and blond with the blue eyes seemed familiar. But not with the personality.

"Sorry, no idea." Horace muttered as he shoved the key into the lock and opened the door.

As soon as Will walked in, Ray looked up and yelled something in a language that he recognized right as the assassin spoke it.

"Horace, I can't believe you didn't know what language he speaks."

"Sorry!"

(\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

_"Will, I swear I didn't do it!" _Ray protested, in the only other language Will knew, thankfully.

_"Okay then, who did it? You were found in the room with the crossbow. I know you, although I only meet you once." _Will snapped back.

_"Lucien! He forced me too! He has my brother so I have to! And you know my brother! And you've meet me more then once!"_

_"First of all, who the hell is Lucien? Second, who the hell is your brother? Third, what?"  
_

"What's happening?" Halt whispered to Horace as he walked in. The knight shrugged.

"I have no idea. I don't know this language."

_"Lucien, he's the one who started this whole thing. The ring leader. The master. What ever you want to call him. And my brother, James. Are you saying you don't recognize me?"_ Ray murmured sadly, slumping down into a corner.

Will froze. James? . . . James and Ray! The brothers he met in Seacliff! But doesn't Ray know what happened to his brother? . . .

"_This is what happened to you?" _he whispered.

"So, where's Cass?" Horace asked, still wondering what Will and the assassin were talking about.

"Right after she saw Duncan, she ran back into your room. Her servant tried to comfort her. But didn't get far. Right now Crowley is in there." Halt replied, still trying to figure out what language it is. Not any I know, the Ranger thought, and that's saying something.

_"He's holding James captive, and he hurts him every time I do something he doesn't like. James is probably dead!" _Ray wailed.

_"But does he have proof?" _Will wondered out loud.

_"Blood." groaned the strained assassin._

"Will, I'm leaving!" Horace broke in. "I need to see Cass!"

The Ranger glanced back and nodded. He turned back as Horace ran out of the room.

_"Ray, your brother's body was found in Redmont five weeks ago." _Will thought back five weeks ago. Seeing his friends body so suddenly, he completely forgot about his brother and what ever happened to him. Now that he was here, sitting in front of him.

Ray's eyes widened, tears streamed down his face. He gripped his leg.

"I'm sorry."

Halt started when he heard Will apologizing to the person who had tried to assassinate the King. And because he could understand him.

"Let me help. I've hated that bastard Lucien for the past three years. Know that I now that he _killed _James-"

"Don't go for revenge. That always goes wrong." Will broke in. Then at glancing at Halt, he muttered, "Well, most of the times it goes wrong."

"So I can help?" Ray asked eagerly, looking back and forth between the two Rangers.

Halt muttered something behind Will that sounded like - "I'm not getting myself into this mess."

Rolling his eyes, Will sighed. I'm gonna get in trouble for this but "Fine."

* * *

**Hehe . . . well. . . I'm not telling whether duncan dies or not. I will not tell you what happens at all.**

**Sorry . . . I changed my Pen name to my more known one . . . Spencer JD so sorry for inconvenience . . . **

**Okay if you're confused with the 3 years, 5 weeks thing well boo-hoo figure it our or PM me  
**

**-Spencer JD  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. WMIM (What's Mine Is Mine).**

**Warnings: Violence and swearing.**

* * *

The young Ranger glanced back at the ex-assassin. Ray had been silent since they had left Castle Araluen, probably still thinking about his brother, James. Halt, who was riding next to Will, was also quiet. Thankfully.

Will shifted in his saddle, and started to move his right arm to scratch his leg. Pain flared up his arm. The young Ranger bit his lip, and let out a small groan. As Will let out the groan, Halt glanced at him strangely, and Ray's head snapped up.

"What?" Halt asked.

"What?" Will shrugged.

"Why'd you groan?"

"I didn't groan."

"Yes, you did."

". . . What?"

Halt paused, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Will with an inquiring look. He would have seen the bloodstains on Will's sleeve if Will hadn't glanced down, see them, and bend over to scratch his scratch.

As the bearded Ranger turned back as he muttered, "Never mind."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

That night, when it was Will's turn for watch, he made sure Halt AND Ray had gone to sleep before checking his arm. He pulled up his sleeve and stared at the deep red bloodstain. He sighed. Cutting open your arm is not fun, Will thought glumly. Slipping the bandages off, was harder then you would naturally think. The blood had dried and pulling the bandages off, hurt, if not made him bleed even more. Will winced as he slowly slipped another stretch of bandage off. Even with wetting the bandage with water, it didn't help that much.

A twig snapped. Will flinched, and doing that made him jerk his arm. And doing that made his pull the last of the bandage off. The Ranger gasped, and bit down hard on his tongue to stop his yelling. He started to taste blood. Breathing hard, he looked down at his arm. Blood was seeping out of the injury, that was barley partly healed.

Will sighed and went to reach for the water skin. But before his hand got there . . .

"Well, that's horrible cut you got there."

Jumping to his feet, Will forgot all about the water skin, and spun around. His uninjured hand flashed down toward his saxe. For the person behind the Ranger, after he said what he said, the next thing he knew there was a 'large' knife tickling against his neck.

"That's not very necessary."

Will's eyes narrowed. "Lucien."

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "Well, I see he told you my name. . . . By the way, you look more menacing with your hood_ up."_

The Ranger raised his eyebrow. "Why are you here? To kill my friends? Or me?"

"Oh, no. I just want to talk. I don't do dirty work. I have other people do to that. And even them, you would have noticed.", laughed the blond headed, damned to hell, bastard.

Clenching his teeth, he tasted the blood again. Then, Will froze. "What?"

Lucien leaned back, and pushed the saxe to the side with his finger. Will just dropped his arm to his side, but kept the knife out.

"Are you losing your touch, Ranger? I _snuck up _behind you. I cracked a twig right next to your ear! And all I got out of you was a flinch. You didn't even turn around."

The twig. What's happening to me? I'm never like this! That's when Will remembered his severely cruel sarcastic comments to Halt when riding to Araulen; Halt had been silent the rest of the ride there. These people are changing me.

"Go away." Will whispered.

Lucien stifled a laugh. "That's all you have to say? I would surely think a _creatively smart Ranger_ would be able to come up with something better then that."

The Ranger took a deep breath. "_Go._"

The leader of the assassins shrugged, smirked, then turned around and slipped back into the forest.

After Lucien left, Will let the saxe drop to the ground. He slowly sat back to the ground and looked at his arm. He sighed and reached for the water skin to start the process of cleaning out his wound.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

Will slowly opened his eyes. Ray and Halt were speaking.

Ray - "Maybe we should wake him up. He might be hurt."

Halt - "And that's a good reason _not _to wake him up. Touching a Ranger in their sleep is _not _a good idea, especially if they are hurt."

Ray - "Why?"

Halt - "Well-"

"Do you really have to talk so loud?" Will groaned.

Halt groaned. "Look what you did!"

Ray's eyes widened. "What did I do?"

"What's wrong with you?" The young Ranger complained.

"Oh! You got his temper going!" Laughed the ex-assassin.

Will opened his mouth to speak but, of course, Halt beat him to it.

"Three questions, Will," He started, "One, why is your water skin empty, because you filled it up before we went to sleep; Two, why are there foot prints behind where you sat; Three, why are there bandages with blood on them on the ground?"

"Oh, and and why was your saxe on the ground also?" Ray added.

"That's four questions. . . . And wait, what did you say?" Will asked. He precisely remembered throwing the bandages into the fire, sweeping the footprints away, filling his water skin up, _and_ picking up his saxe. His hand straying toward his sheaths. One of them was empty. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON?

"I can answer those questions if you want." At the sound of _that _voice again, Will's anger boiled up. The next thing Lucien knew, there was a knife about a centimeter from his neck, buried deep into a tree behind him.

He slid to the side and whispered, "I really starting to think I should stop doing that."

Will stood up and stared at the assassin, "You damn bastard!" he snapped.

"I'm surprised you could throw that well with an arm in that condition, anyway Will! But I swear, I did not do this."

"And why should I believe you?" The Ranger asked. All the while, Ray had gotten deathly pale, and Halt had gotten a strange look on his face

"By the way, what even happened to your arm?" Lucien laughed.

"Maybe you should take my advice from last night." Will murmured.

"One more thing. My friend/_boss _wanted me to tell you something," Lucien turned towards the forest, "The river you passed a few nights ago, you might what to check upstream. And _he _did this, not me. It was when you went to get more water."

"First of all, I had my water skin with me! And my saxe!"

"Well, I can explain the water skin, but not the saxe."

"Okay then, explain."

Lucien bent down and picked up a piece of leather. That happened to be Will's water skin. "Well, it's right here for starters." He said, turning it over in his hands before tossing it over to Will.

As Will caught it, he laughed. "You think I didn't see her? I'm not blind." _Edwina. _The memories flooded Will's mind.

Walking up to the stream. Seeing the blood flow in the water. Looking up to see the body. The worst part though, was the letter. It read:

Ranger Treaty:

This is but a mere warning. Give in. And maybe you beloved wife will live. Ronin, he is such a wonderful kid. . .

-Edmund

And on the _other_ _side_:

Will, I will tell you who Edmund is soon enough.

-Lucien

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

After Lucien left, Will walked silently over to where his saxe was on the ground. He bent down and grabbed the large knife.

"Will."

The Ranger turned around to meet Halt's gaze. "Yes, Halt?"

"Let me see your arm." Will held out his arm.

"The _other _arm, Will."

As Will held out his other arm, Ray glanced towards the trees, unsure of what he just heard.

Halt pulled up his apprentice's sleeve to reveal the white bandages the covered the severe wound.

The older Ranger sighed, and put his hand over his eyes. "Will what happened?"

"I don't really see why I need to tell you. . . "

"Will. . . "

"Guys . . . " Ray whispered. But _of course _no one heard him.

"I fell . . . " Will lied.

"Some how, I doubt that."

"Well, lets just say I knew this was going to start. Leon attacked me. I defended myself the best I could. But I still got hurt. For the first day of having the injury, I couldn't move my arm _at all. _The next day, it wasn't much better. So . . . I'm not going to tell the rest of the story. . . . "

"Hey, Guy-" Ray's last sentence was suddenly cut of. By an arrow, the shaft black, the feathers white.

The eyes of both Rangers widened. Halt pulled an arrow out of his quiver and notched it onto his bow. Will's hand gripped down hard on the hilt of his saxe, preparing for what was coming.

Will's eyes strayed over to his friend. Ray was dead. The arrow had gone straight through his heart. There was no way to save him. Even if there was, Ray wouldn't want it to be found. He wanted to be with his family. The only thing left for Ray was his brother. Their parents had been killed in a massacre, so they only had each other left.

And know they were with each other again.

His eyes strayed away from Ray. And happened to look straight into the eyes of a man.

He had pure white hair, but he looked younger the Will! His eyes were ice blue, filled with hatred.

"Well, I finally get to meet the _famous _Will Treaty." He sneered.

* * *

**Well . . . It's been a long time . . .  
**

**Thank you, a certain PM message (don't remember who sent it . . . Sorry) pointed out that I never explained what happened to Will's arm in the first chapter. Well now I did. . . Did you LOVE the ending? You probably guessed who it was already . . . I won't spoil it . . .  
**

**-Spencer JD  
**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the story, and most of the characters. Those belong to Mr. John Flanagan. WMIM (See if you can remember what that means . . . **

* * *

Looking through the large bay window, Cassandra watched the garden. Servants Rachael, Sarah, Camron, and Hanna were there. Rachael and Sarah were picking flowers and Camron and Hanna were picking fruit for the cooks.

The morning sun peeked over the tops of the trees about 2 kilometers away.

Cassandra rubbed her arms. She wiped away one of the ever-present tears and bit her lip.

I wonder if . . . Will and Halt are okay? . . . They took that man with them . . . Will seemed to trust him . . . But after what that man did . . . Why would Will thrust him? . . . Those two acted as if they were old friends . . .

Cassandra sighed, and watched her frozen breath fade.

Winter was coming . . . Hopefully Will and Halt will finish what they have to before it starts snowing.

Arms wrapped around her shoulders, embracing her, warming her up.

"Why can't it stay summer?" Cassandra asked.

"Well, I guess you don't want me doing this then." A voice murmured. The arms trailed back to the top of Cassandra's shoulders.

Cassandra bit her lip, and turned to face her husband. The hands fell off her shoulders.

"I was just wondering!" the princess whispered.

Horace smiled at her. But the smile faded.

"How'ya feeling?" Horace took her hand.

Cassandra opened her mouth, but she froze. Horace's hand had fallen out of her grip. His face was pale.

The hand that had fallen, was now over his stomach. Almost as if he had a stomach ache.

Well, one thing Cassandra knew was that her husband did not have a damn stomach ache.

Taking a second look at Horace's stomach, she noticed something. Something RED stained his cloths.

Cassandra screamed.

This happened two weeks ago. The day AFTER the two Rangers left.

(/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

One man in the trees with a bow. At least five men behind the Young/Old Guy. And Lucien directly behind the Young/Old Guy, pointing at him, mouthing 'This is Edmund'.

So, Will weighed the numbers in his head. Two people to probably ten people . . . it would be three to ten but . . . The young Ranger glanced back again.

"You know, looking back at him is not going to bring him back to life." Will muttered to himself.

"So!" Edmund smiled, "Is he your friend?" He pointed to Ray.

"Was." Will's grip tightened on his saxe.

"Oh, that's true . . . Well! Anyway . . . " Edmund started talking, about how he heard about the Ranger Corp, about he then heard about the two VERY famous Rangers, Halt (Not many people did know his last name), and Will Treaty. As he trailed on and on, Will's gaze traveled behind Edmund, behind Lucien, behind the five waiting men. What he saw was . . .

The Rangers hand fell off his saxe. He tapped his friends leg.

The grizzled Ranger followed Will's gaze.

A chuckled escaped his lips.

Edmund froze. Three of the five men disappered. Edmund's hand fell down to the sword at his hip. Two more men disappered. Edmund furrowed his eyebrows and started to look over his shoulder. Lucien was gone. Even the bowman was gone. Only Edmund was left. And the two amused Rangers. And the dead body of Ray Andeas.

Edmund spun back around, eyes blazing at the two Rangers.

"What, may I ask, happened to my men?"

Will bit his lip, "Ah, I'm not sure . . . What did happen?" He said it in a REAL sarcastic voice, showing that he knew well and clear what just happened.

Halt shrugged, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't see. But I do bet two Royals that it was _halarious._

Edmund's hand let go of his sword. It then when over his shoulder. His hand was halfway through the throwing motion before Will noticed the dagger held lightly between his thumb and pointer fingers.

The young Ranger yelled, grabbed his mentor's arm, and let his legs collaspe underneath him. The knife went end over end, inched above his head.

Edmund's hand went back again, seconds after throwing the first knife. But he stopped.

Maybe because he realized that both Rangers were already on the ground. But mainly because . . . he couldn't. And he couldn't because someone hand grabbed his wrist.

Crowly, Ranger Commandant, smiled wolfisly. He tapped the Young/Old guy's neck with his throwing knife.

"Now, I know for a fact that those are two Rangers right there on the ground. I also know you killed Ray Andeas. I ALSO know that YOU just tryed to kill my friends there. AND I ALSO KNOW THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF KING DUNCAN AND SIR HORACE."

Edmund was so stunned that . . . he didn't even try to get his sword. Crowley's smile got larger as another Ranger stepped out of the shadows, man-sized long bow at half draw and arrow notched.

Gilan.

The moment Will saw the other Rangers, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He leaned over and whispered into Halt's ear.

"First, did they follow us? Second, did Crowley just say that HE is responsible for the ATTEMPTED assassination of Duncan AND Sir Horace?"

The bearded Ranger shrugged. Then realizing what his apprentice just said, he froze.

"Horace?"

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

The lone rider sat slumped in the saddele, hood pulled up all the way to keep out the rain. The rider shifterd, in hope of loosening the crossbow slung onto his back.

He didn't know how to shoot a crossbow, and he couldn't shoot to save his life. The only reason he could think of why he carried one was a back-up. For the boss. The boss carried one everywhere he went, and never talked to someone without a crossbow somewhere near. So it was probably just a spare.

Max was more of a close-combat fighter.. He didn't like picking off people from over ten meters. Especially hitting them in the back, which the boss was very fond of. But it seemed merciless. And Max didn't like that. He always gave his opponets a chance to surrender.

Even though the boss disapproved of those kind of actions.

The wind blew harder, and Max's hood was knocked back, and in seconds his red hair was plastered to his face. Max didn't try to put his hood back up. He was almost to the castle.

After he rounded the bend in the trail, he nudged Martin, his horse, to a stop. In front of them was the castle, which was a LARGE castle.

Why, Max thought glumly, is that castle always dark? It's so . . . depressing.

And so is my message.

Max had been ordered by the boss's friend, his name started with an E (That's all that Max could remember), to deliver a message to the boss.

And what was that depressing message?

Only that, King Duncan had been shot by Lucien, but lived. That Sir Horace had been shot by the boss's friend, but lived. And that they had been forced to kill James in order to get Ranger Treaty pissed off. But then Ray, James's brother, had rebelled and had to be shot.

Max narrowed his emerald eyes, trying to get a better view of the rain slicked road.

Glancing back at the large castle, Max estimated that it would be another two hours before he would get to the castle.

Might as well put my hood back up, the rider's said in his mind.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

Alyss bent down, putting a bowl of water down for Ebony. She had been strictly instructed by Will to stay near Castle Redmont. And to try to not be alone.

But she was at the moment, other then Ebony. Who just so happend to start growling at the very moment that someone choose to knock on the door.

Ignoring Ebony's growl would be foolish,, and Alyss knew that. First, she called "One moment please!" Then she grabbed her dagger and hid it behind her back. She walked toward the door, but before she could do anything, Ebony started to bark.

Alyss turned around to shush her, but . . . the door opened behind her.

Someone was walking toward her. . .

Before she could scream, before she could defend herself, before she could even turn around, the person who had opened the door put their hand over her mouth. They whispered in her ear, "Be quiet, or I will shove your own dagger in your back." The person gripped her wrist, tighter and tighter, until she let the dagger slip from her fingers.

Ebony had continued to bark, but suddenly, she stopped.

Tears sprang from her eyes.

Ronin. Or whatever the hell his name was. Alyss watched the ex-apprentice walk up to her, calmly whiping the blood from his own dagger.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

_"Will, in addition of Horace getting shot during the time you and Halt have been traveling, something else has happened."_

Will let the tears run freely at the memory of his conversation with Crowley.

Apprentice and mentor had left to continue on their way after the commandant had told them what had happened at Castle Araluen.

After the explanations, Halt started to clean up their camp. Gilan went to deal with the bodies of Ray and Edwina. And Crowley had pulled Will aside.

_"What else happened?" Will asked._

_Crowley bit his lip. "Will, I'm sorry." That's all Crowley said. The Commandant shoved his face in his hand and groaned._

_"Crowley, what happend?"_

_Before Crowley could reply, Gilan walked up and put his arm around Will's shoulders and pulled his ear to his mouth._

_"Will before I got to Redmont, Alyss . . . she disappered. Jenny found the cabin door open and the cabin deserted. Ebony was . . . killed." Gilan had whispered into Will's ear._

Now, five kilometers away from where Ray had died, from where Edwina had died, from where so many things about the band of assassins had finally come out of the shadows, Will couldn't stand it much longer.

The Ranger rested his head on Tug's neck.

These damned memories . . . he felt as if he forgot something. Something important. But with the news of Alyss's disappearence, and Horace's attemped assassination, it's not likely he would remember any time soon.

Will felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and his eyes meet Halt's.

"We will find who did this, Will." Halt whispered.

Will's eyes showed a twinkle, a . . . a twinkle of satisfaction. "And when we do, I'll be sure to kick his ass."

* * *

**It would be so fun to spoil it, what happens next, but I want to have the advantage of surprise so . . . haha no spoiler**

**Okay, sometime in Ch. 3 i believe I said that "And in the end, the bolt was shot and someone of great power died that day." Well as you can probably tell, Ducan didn't die. It was a mistake. I ment to change it but my 90 days expired first so know it's stuck like that. So to you people who want to bother me about that, well suck it up. I admit it, it was a MISTAKE.**

**-Spencer JD**


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. I wish I did though.**

* * *

Doing this is dangerous. I could get myself killed by doing this. But, who cares? I don't care, and that's for sure. Doing this to the Boss would only reward in death. Luckily, I'm only doing this to the Captain and his Deputy. Still, it's dangerous even attempting to do this. But . . . I have too. Not doing it would only get my friend killed. And that would also get his friends killed. And I can't let that happen. I would never again be able to look at my reflection if I didn't even try.

Sneaking up to the door was the easy part. The harder part was not getting caught outside of the Command Room with my ear to the door by the Mistress or the Boss.

When I put my ear to the door, the first thing I heard was, "That damn bastard! How dare he, with all of his men, he thinks he's the King of the World! And, even better, he's going to get us all killed! does he even know what he's doing" I stood there, wondering if the Boss really did know what he was doing. That's when I heard the second voice. I recognized it to belong to the Mistress. That was a surprise. Now, that meant that only servants, and the Boss could catch me now.

"I don't believe he does know what he's doing. I think he's just trying to impress me." Her soft, cold voice had always sent shivers down my spine, and there was no difference today.

"Well, my love? Does he impress you?" I froze. _'My love?'_

The Mistress laughed. I had never heard her laugh before. It was surprisingly loud, with that stupid fake accent of hers. Even though it was loud, and showed how fake she was, it was still cold enough to freeze my breath.

"How could such an asshole impress me? He's too full of himself." She laughed again, and then I heard something which I dreaded.

Footsteps.

Were they in front, coming from the room? Or were they behind me, coming from the hall? I was stuck, and now I might not get a chance to get this info to my friend.

The Captain and the Mistress were lovers, and they both disliked the Boss.

Now that was something Malcolm would have to know.

But then a door opened.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

Halt glanced up to the sky, and suddenly noticed the rain clouds. And that there was only about two hours of daylight left. He pointed that out to Will.

"Rain clouds? Have you gone crazy, Halt?"

The grizzled Ranger started. What was that supposed to mean? Halt took another glance up into the sky. There certainly _was _rain clouds, so why was Will telling him he was crazy?

"And why, may I ask, am I crazy?" Halt asked.

Will reined Tug in, then turned to face his mentor. "Halt, it's winter. There's no rain. It's snow."

Halt opened his mouth to speak, but then realized that his apprentice was right. It was winter. And it was most likely snow, not rain.

"Oh," he murmured, "Well, where are we even going?"

A large smile crept across the young Ranger's face. "So you want to know? Yesterday, you said the you didn't want to know," the smile got larger, "and that you'd rather me take care of everything because you were tired."

"Please tell me you were just making that up."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

The door opened. But . . . Not the one in front of me. There was a room to the right, and someone had opened that door.

When I spun around, the first thing I saw was the servant uniform for the woman. The dark blue dress that came to the ground, with the long sleeves rolled up. Brown boots were peeking out from under the dress, and they were worn, old, and in need of being replaced. I could see the white scarf was hiding the hair color of the required short hair of all the woman servants - which I thought was weird.

When my eyes finally landed on her face, a smile crept across my face. It was Marabeth. Although, she technically wasn't a servant. She was actually the Boss's and the Mistress's daughter. She was married, but she was still a good person, and both Malcolm and myself trust her. Her husband, Craven, was blind. But, since he has a wonderful memory, he can step in a room, walk around for a little while, come back a month later, and walk around without running into anything. Pretty amazing, right?

Well, Mara, as we call her, beckoned me over. When I stepped into the room, she gently closed the door.

Seconds before the footsteps turned the corner. Mara and I put our ears to the door, to try and find out who, of all people, was walking down this hallway.

This hallway, known as the Road to Hell to the servants, was only for high-ranking people. So people like the Mistress, the Boss, the Captain, the Deputy, and, only on good days, me.

Me, yes, me. Surprise, huh? It's really not that rewarding, even though the servants look at me as if I'm the Boss. Well, I'm not. I'm Max Reyes, an I am currently a double agent. Ha, those idiots are really blind, not to realize that I am not on their side. Oh, well. Back to the others, because, this is NOT my story.

I'm only a minor character.

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)

"Okay, so we're just going to Norgate?" That seems oddly simple, Halt thought, considering Will's been avoiding questions this whole time.

Will nodded, "Well, sorta, we need to go to Macindaw, and then we need to find Malcolm."

"Why do we need to find Malcolm?"

"Because, those guys are chasing me because of something I accidentally took. I don't know what I took, but I know that it fell into Malcolm's bag." Looks like he's not avoiding questions know, Halt thought.

"How do you know this?"

"Ray told me. He said that those guys started to go crazy when apparently a book disappeared. Two years ago."

"A book?

"A journal, actually, but yes. A book."

"But how could a book make them want to murder Rangers, and try to assassinate the King and Horace?"

The young Ranger bit his lip, shrugged, and sipped his coffee. They had stopped riding a few hours ago, and were know sitting under the canopy of a forest. No snow was getting to them, even thought it was practically a blizzard outside. The two horses were grazing a few feet away, but both Rangers were baffled on how the horses had found some fresh grass.

The Rangers were silent as the wind blew harder, and the fire guttered.

"I'm not sure . . . " Will paused, "but, I know-for a fact- that Malcolm has it, and he may have already found it. It DID fall into his bag."

Halt nodded. "Right, and if he already found it, Will, what does that mean?"

". . . " Will, not knowing the answer, took a sip of his coffee. But, soon, the answer came. ". . . They're going to go after him as well . . . "

"And how do they know he has it? How do they know that he has it, and not you, Will?" Halt put down his empty cup, and stood up to get the cooking pot. Will was going to have to come up with some good stew today, Halt thought.

Will put down HIS empty cup. "Well, they probably saw me with the bag the first we met. They also probably also saw us leaving with no bag like that. Otherwise, if they did, we both would probably be dead." Halt nodded again, motioning for the Ranger to elaborate. "Well, they probably didn't see us leaving Grimsdell, or Macindaw. They probably saw us riding through Norgate. So, most likely, they don't know where Malcolm lives. So, he's safe for now."

"Unless if they had someone follow us, then Malcolm could be dead already, and they're just playing around with us." Halt sat back down, pot in hand, already filling it with water.

Will crossed his arms over his chest, and scowled at his mentor. "Are you filling in for Horace? Because, I'm pretty sure he's the one who always points out the bad news."

"But, the chances of that isn't that big, so he's probably not dead, and probably as stubborn as ever." The old Ranger smiled slightly, but hardly.

"Probably."

"Hopefully."

". . . Can you NOT say that?"

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

_**Two Years**_ **_Ago_ **

Malcolm smiled sadly as the two Rangers rode out of the 'Healer's Clearing'. Will was hopefully going to make a full recovery. He probably was, with Halt there. Alyss would probably join in on making sure he didn't reopen the wound. So would Horace, anytime he was there.

Turning around, the small healer sighed. He finally had time to organize his 'collection' of satchels. He walked through the front room, and the kitchen, before finally getting to his room. When he opened the door, the very first thing he saw was _the _satchel. The bad Will had been carrying when he was hit. Malcolm picked it up, and opened it up. He would've thrown it down, probably landing underneath his bed. Years later, he would find it in his closet.

The reason he opened it, wasn't because Will had nearly died with it, but because it felt heavier then what it usually felt like. Did Max send something extra?

Malcolm peeked inside the bag, but everything was there. The usual letter, the warmweed ointment, and the coffee beans. Why was it heavier? Malcolm pulled out the ointment and the coffee beans, ignoring the letter because it wasn't in the way, and looked again. And there it was.

A journal.

* * *

**:) I think that went well. Well, I did more for a minor character, because he's not really that minor. You need to know who he is, and where he is. You know who he is, just not where he is yet. And yes, Malcolm does play a large part in this.**

**-Spencer JD**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. Do I have to do the disclaimer every time?**

**I had time to do another chapter during spring break, so here it is.**

* * *

Cassandra sat at the edge of the bed, next to her pale husband. He was going to make it, but taking a hit like that would surely keep him out of a few things for longer then he would have liked. Her father was still in bad condition as well. But, same as Horace, he was going to make it.

The Princess had been advised to stay away from windows, and with someone trusted at all times. She ignored these. She could take care of herself. And if she wanted to be with her husband, or her father, she could if she wanted to. Plus, she had her saber with her. And her belt, the one that she could transform into her sling.

At the moment, no visitors were being allowed into the castle. Only people with the proper identification, like a Ranger with an Oakleaf, could gain entry into the castle. So, Cassandra would probably recognize someone who wasn't supposed to be here. The castle had been working like this since the day Horace got shot. Whoever they were, they wanted to county to go into chaos.

The Princess stood up. She bent over the bed, and kissed Horace's chalk white cheek. She smiled sadly. "Get better soon…Please, Horace. Get better…"

She wiped away a stray tear, and turned to leave the room. As she closed the door, she glanced to her side, and froze. It's been weeks since we closed the gates, Cass thought, so I should know everybody whose here, right? To her left, was someone she had never seen before. And he was an odd character.

He had pure white hair, and ice blue eyes. He was young though. His hands were tied behind his back as well, and he had two soldiers escorting him. What was also strange was there were two Rangers tailing after them. Gilan. Next to Gilan was Crowley. The Ranger Commandant's eyes meet with the Princess's, and he broke away from the group.

"Cassandra, you should go back into the room." Crowley glanced at the passing group. Gilan eyed the pair, but the Commandant signaled for him to continue with the group.

Cass crossed her arms. "Why should I? And who is that?"

Crowley hesitated, but soon figured out that she would get it out of him, one way or another. "All we know about him is that his name is Edmund. He is with the group that is attacking the Rangers, and is probably high on the command list."

Cass raised her eyebrows. "That's it?"

Crowley nodded. "That's it. No, wait. We also caught the man who attacked Will and Halt, and he is also the same man who tried to kill your father. His name is Lucien, and he's not that high on the command list, even though he was commanding a group of those assassins. Along with those two, we also caught five others with them. Just soldiers to them probably. And then we also caught a crossbowman. Highly trained, too."

"So, you just caught the main men who attacked my family?"

"Pretty much."

(/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

Malcolm sat at his dinner table once again. He had made a habit of every Tuesday night, he would sit at his dinner table, and ponder over that odd journal he had found in the satchel. When Malcolm had asked Max if he had sent journal or not, Max had replied with a 'I never sent a journal'.

The old healer opened the book once more, and looked through the first pages.

_IKL EHS QHC HOS OHO SDD GOC ZHN RFJ YAN UR_T …

It all was just random letters, put into groups of three. The healer could probably figure it out, but he would need to get some clue. No matter how he thought through it, it always got jumbled up and messed up, and it would make no sense.

Someone knocked on the door.

Malcolm froze. No one ever knocked on the door. And Shadow, or one of the pups, should have started barking by know. Or Trobar should have scared them away. Actually, the sorcery should have kept people out of this forest entirely. Unless if they knew that everything was fake. Not many people knew that everything that scares people off was fake. And the people who do are either busy commanding a castle (Orman and Xander), far away in some other country (The Skandians), or living in the south. Hopefully it was the people from the south.

The healer slowly got up, but not before sliding the journal into a little hidden box under the table. Malcolm opened the door. The dogs were barking. Trobar was laughing. And one Ranger was standing next to two horses. Another Ranger was at the door.

"Hello, Malcolm!" Will, who had a large grin on his face, was standing in front of Malcolm. The last time Malcolm had seen the young Ranger, he had been deathly pale, and barely able to stay seated on Tug. Now, he looked cheerful as ever.

A smile broke out on Malcolm's face. "Will! Halt! What are you doing here?" Malcolm received a warm hug from Will the moment he stepped out of the cottage, and he shook hands with Halt.

Something was wrong. His friends were tensed up.

The small healer glanced at Ranger next to him. Inside, Will was probably a mess. Even though he was trying to hide it, Malcolm could see it plainly. He was scared, worried, mad, angry, sad, tired, and much more. Now, as Malcolm looked at Halt, he could see practically the same emotions in him.

"Come on, come inside you two. We'll talk over some coffee."

Halt frowned. "Talk over what? We haven't said anything that could need talking over yet, have we?"

"No," Malcolm smiled sadly, "but I'm not blind. Something's wrong." He also wasn't blind enough to see the glance that passed between the two Rangers.

The healer beckoned them to follow him into the cabin. Warily, the Rangers did.

Malcolm sat down at the seat he had been sitting at before, and the two Rangers sat down across from him, after taking off their cloaks and hanging them up on the pegs right next to the door. The coffee was already made, so in moments, the three had warm coffee mugs in their hands.

Leaning forward, Malcolm banged his knee on the box. He would have to find a better place under the table where NOBODY would bang their knee.

"Okay, so what is it?"

(\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/)

I was trudging down the hall. I had to go back outside, and it was still raining. This time, I had my hair pulled back, so it wouldn't fall in my face. Strands were still falling out of the band, though, so I had a feeling that hair would be sticking to the sides of my face. My sword belt was clipped on, and that annoying crossbow was on my back again. Malcolm's satchel was over my shoulder. I smiled sadly.

"_Here, and make sure it gets to him." Max handed the satchel over to the Ranger. The Ranger nodded his thanks. _

"_Why does Malcolm need this? And what's even in it?" The Ranger went to open the flap, but Max slapped his hand. The Ranger flinched._

_Max playfully wiggled his finger in front of the Ranger's face. "Nope. For his eyes only. Got that?"_

_The Ranger pulled the band over his shoulder, and grinned. "Yeah, I got that." As the Ranger turned around, Max tapped his shoulder. The Ranger stopped and looked over his shoulder. _

"_Huh?"_

"_Good luck. And try with all your might to survive this mission."_

I shook my head. This was no time for flashbacks. I had to get this satchel to Malcolm. This one had very important information.

I was just about to walk out the back door, when I heard my name being called. I turned to see the Boss.

"Where are you going?" He was just in front of me.

"Araluen."

The Boss crossed his arms. "Well, don't get caught. Edmund and Lucien got caught already. Also Raymond betrayed us, and had to be…..well let's just say…taken care of. I don't need you to get caught either."

I nodded. Why was he telling me this? It's not like he cared for me. "Of course, Sir."

He looked at me up and down, then turned and walked away. I stuck my tongue out at his back. Then, I turned and opened the back door.

As I was getting Martin ready for the trip, I started thinking about something.

Two years ago, Malcolm had asked if I had sent a journal. I had replied 'No'. Ever since then, I had been wondering what journal Malcolm could have found. I had just been debriefed, and had heard about a journal that Michael and Tyler had been carrying. It apparently had information about the planned invasion that the Boss was planning. If that fell into enemies hands, the whole thing would be ruined. If Malcolm was talking about _that_ journal, then they would be in a good position. If Michael and Tyler were carrying it, and they were killed…..then the journal that had fallen into the bag _must_ be it. All they would have to do it decode it.

I know how to decode it.

* * *

**I noticed myself that I've been going off Will and Halt a lot, and going to Max or Cass or someone else. I'm not sure if I should continue that, or just start just doing mainly all Will and Halt... I'm not sure which...**

**-Spency**


End file.
